It was not news that it made a lot of noise when it was announced at CES 2023, but I will tell you one thing: if you are a very active person on WhatsApp and you usually receive calls and calls video via the popular messaging app, it’s a feature that can make a difference when you’re behind the wheel. I went on a trip with Android Auto and tried WhatsApp calls: such was the experience.
Making and receiving a WhatsApp call on Android Auto is wonderful… if you can
Making a WhatsApp call with Android Auto is quite simple, but there is a trick: They are not done from the messaging application itself, but from the phone. When you tap on a contact, the option to call either the old-fashioned way or via WhatsApp will appear. From now on, the call is identical to standard calls, even in the interface. As you see below these lines, the call takes up the entire screen and you can mute it, choose audio output or hang up.
For this operation, it is best to do it with the car stationary to maximize safety and avoid fines, as it involves touching the screen. And can’t this be done with the voice assistant? In theory yes, in practice Google Assistant has difficulty understanding the order.
If you receive a WhatsApp call, what you see when using Android Auto is what is shown in the main image that illustrates this article. The only difference from a normal voice call is the “WhatsApp incoming call” line. From there and with good 5G coverage, we have not seen any delays or outages.
The big handicap of WhatsApp calls on Android Auto is its compatibility. The overall experience is good in terms of interface and use, but there is room for improvement: for this test I used a Google Pixel 6 Pro and not my OnePlus 11 simply because the latter is not compatible.
Google’s infotainment system is very widespread since there is a large fleet of compatible cars. And while there are many cars compatible with Android Auto, there are even more phones with WhatsApp and people who use the app every day. Despite this, WhatsApp calls on Android Auto only concern a few phone models, in short, the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy launched from 2021. When this feature was rolled out, I understood the limitation, but more than a year Afterwards, it’s still limited.
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In Xataka Android | All the ways to make and receive calls on Android Auto
